Not Going with the Flow: How Cells Adapt Internal Physics

Abstract

Defining the principles underlying the organization of biomolecules within cells is a key challenge of current cell biology research. Persson etal. now identify a powerful layer of regulation that allows cells to decouple diffusion from temperature by modulating their intracellular viscosity. This so-called viscoadaptation is mediated through trehalose and glycogen activities, which alter diffusion dynamics and self-assembly propensity inside the cell globally.